Mail receiving and delivering apparatus.



J. S. LANIER.

MAIL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS. APPLICATION rum) AUG. 12, 1907. RENEWED 001'. 23, 1908.

1,037,498. Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

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1,037,498, Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. Q I

UNITED s'rn rns PATENT oiuuon.

JAMES SMITH LANIER, OF WEST POINT, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO INTERNATIONAL MAIL EQUIPMENT (10., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORKJ MAIL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 12 1907, Serial No; 888,228. Renewed October 23, 1908. Serial No. 459,210.

clear, and exact description of'the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the This invention relates to improvements in mail receiving and "delivering apparatus,

and more particularly to thet pe designed to, facilitate the collection an deliveryof mail by a mounted carrier or a carrier in a vehicle without requiring him to leave his seat.

Among the objects in view is the'provisicn of means for facilitating the. movement of a containerinto a carriage, or otherwise awaygfrom its normal position and the rening of the same to-its normal condition wu hout injury to the container or the sup- )oit. a 1 Another object in view is the provision of sustaining means for a.container, a support therefor, and gravity actuated means between the sustainingmeans and support for causing thecont alner to move by gravity toits normal position after having been moved away from the same.

1th these and further ob ects 1n view, the invention'comprlses'certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts as will become obvious from the detail description hereinafter given of the specific embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawing, and particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a view in slde elevation of one embodiment of thepresent invention, the parts being'shown' in the normal position. Fig. 2

is a similar view of the same with the mail box drawn outwardly from its support.

Fig. 3 is. a horizontal section taken on the plane indicated by line 3, 3 of Figs. 1 and 2, and looking downwardly. Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated by line 4, 4 of Fig. 1, and looking in the direction indicated by the arrow. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, the sections being taken on the plane indicated by line 5, 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail, transverse sectional view through the supporting shaft. Fig. 7 isa detail, lan view of a fragment of one end of the siding bar. Fig. 8 i'san edge view thereof. Fig. 9 is a detail, in-' verted plan view of the support for the mail box detached, the operating ring being omitted. Fig. 10 is a side elevation thereof. I In the collection and delivery of mail in suburban districts, it has been found desirable to provide mail boxes or containers so arranged that the postman may collect fromthe boxes and deliver to the boxes while remaining in his carriage, and in' order to'prevent the projection of the mail boxes or receptacles into the road-way various devices have been designed to enable the boxes to be shifted temporarily on their supports and then shifted back to their normal position by the operator while remalnlng 1n h1s carnage. Such prior devices however, have been arranged even when in Patented Sept. 3, 1912. v

their normal position to extend into the roadway, and in instances where the operator failed to properly push the mail boxes back to their normal position the same would remain ,out in the path of vehicles. Therefore, this invention is designed to overcome this difliculty and to provide a box, which regardless of carelessness on the part of the operator will not remain in the road-Way, and at the same time in its automatic' return to a position out of the roadway will not injure itselfor its support.

A further advantage is gained by the pres ent improved structure in the provision of an adjustable box which may be adjusted to various positions constituting signals to the postman, the Post Ofiice Department at present requiring signals to be employed to indicate the presence of mail in the mail box to be collected.

In the accompanying drawing in which I have illustrated one particular embodiment of the present invention, 1 indicates a post or other suitable support, which may be one of the posts of. a fence along a roadway. To the post 1 is fixed a channel iron bracket 2 which in operation constitutes a stepped bearing, and above the channel iron Qis arranged an angle iron bracket The upper web of the channel iron bracket 2 is formed with an opening 4 and the horia longitudinal slot 5. At the opposite ends bearing 8 resting upon the lower flan e ofthe bracket 2. The shaft 7 may be of any preferred construction and as illustrated is 10 made of a cylindrical rod formed with longitudinal cut-away portions at the point of the bracket 3 leaving a longitudinal. web

9. The web 9 may, of course, assume the form of a lug or projection of any approved 5 type adapted to engage the respective shoul ders 6 according to the partlcular incline of the shaft 7 to one side or the other. The upper end of the shaft 7 is formed with a head or sleeve 10 within which are prefer- 2 ably disposed guiding antifriction rollers 11 and 12 spaced apart vertically and a supporting roller 13 spaced horizontally from the roller 12. Passed between the rollers 11 and 12 and above the roller 13 is a supportiron type arranged with the free edgesof its webs resting in circumferential grooves in the roller 13 indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5. The roller 12 is formed with a central annular groove into which extends the corner of the angle bar. When the parts are in their normal position as indicated in Fig. 1, the shaft 7 extends at an ineline either on the side indicated in full lines or on the side indicated in dotted lines in said Fig. 1, and, in order that the bar 14 may assume a horizontal position when the rod 7 is so inclined and to assume an inclined position when the rod 7 is disposed vertically, the roller 13 is arranged higher than the roller 11, so that the bar 14', when the rod 7 is in a vertical position, as indicated in Fig. 2, will lie in an inclined plane extending upwardly in a direction from the roller 11 toward the roller 13. The roller 13 is arranged as much above the roller 11 only as is required to cause the bar 14 to assume a horizontal position when the rod 7 is in either of its inclined posit-ions. As is obvious from Fig. 3 the shaft 7 is approximately equal in diameter to the width of the slot 5, and the opening 4 in the bracket 2 is disposed vertically beneath the center of the slot 5, so that when the shaft 7 is disposed centrally ofthe slot 5 the same will be in a vertical position, and when the bar 14 is drawn out, as indicated in Fig. 2, with the shaft 7 disposed centrally of the slot 5, the upward incline of the bar 14 will impart by gravity a tendency to the head 10 to revolve to a position at right angles to the position seen in Fig. 2, or in other words to revolve to a position with the bar 14 parallel to the r'oad-way. As soon as the head 10 has revolved until the web 9 moves ing bar 14 which is preferably of the angleout ofengagement with the outer edge of the slot '5, the parts losetheir balance, and the shaft 7 falls either to one. end or the other of the roove 5, whereupon the head '10 continues its revolution until the web 9 engages the respective shoulder 6, which interrupts any further movement of the parts andthe bar 1.4 assumes an at rest position when parallel to the roadway. The bar 14 is provided with suitablestops 15 and 16 for preventing thc'opposite ends of the bar passing through the head 10.

It is to be observed that the brackets 2 and 3 which constitute supporting means for the moving elements are arranged parallel to the road-way, and therefore /when .the bar. 14 is parallel to the road-way it is parallel to its supports, although it is obvious of course that the alinement of the supports with the roadway might be 'altered without altering the assumption of the parallelism with the road-way by the bar 14, simply by a change in the shape of the slot 5.

One end of the bar 14 is designed to support a mail box or container 17, which end or end portion may therefore,'for facility of identification, be referred to as the container supporting portion of the bar. In practice I have found one convenient method of producing a suitable bearing for container 17 consists of simply flattening the bar at its end as indicated at 18, and bending the same back upon itself, as at 19, and forming a flattened portion with apertures 20 through which is passed the pin 21 supporting the connecting plate 22-screwed or otherwise suitably secured to the bottom of the box 17. A boss 23 is fixed to the plate 22 and surrounds the pin 21 in position for resting upon the upper flat face of the flattened portion 18. The flattened portion'18 is preferably provided with intersecting right angle grooves 24 and 25' into one ofwhich extend beveled lugs 26. An operating ring 27 may be suspended from the lower end of the pin 21 for facilitating manipulation of the parts. It is to be noted that the groove 25 isarranged longitudinally with respect to the bar 14, and the groove 24 is disposed transversely of said bar so that when the lugs 26 rest in the groove 25, the lugs being disposed trans versely of the box 17 the said box will lie parallel to the bar 14, and when the said lugs 26 engage the groove 25- the box 17 will be disposed transversely of the bar 14. Obviously, the two positions of the box may be employed as signals, as for instance, when a letter is deposited inthe box 17 for collection'by the postman, the depositor may grasp the box and turn the same to a position at right angles to the bar 14, and such relation of the box to the bar will indicate to the postman the fact that the box contains a by grasping the box itself, and of course,

the bevel of the lugs 26 and grooves 24 and 25 is such as to permit the lugs to leave the grooves under suflicient strain, but at the same time the said lugs with the respective.

groove serve normally as locking means for retaining the box 17 in given adplsted positions, the box being revolubly mounted as indicated.

In operation, the parts are in the position indicated in Fig. 1 normally, and when a letter is deposited in the box 17 the person placing the'letter in the box, if he Wishes to give a signal to the postman, will revolve the box to the position transversely of the bar 14. The postman upon driving up grasps the ring 27 and draws the box 17 over into the carriage. If the carriage is directly opposite the post 1 this operation will usually cause the shaft 7 to assume an upright position centrally of the slot 5.

After the postman has drawn the box 17 over into his carriage the parts will be in substantially the position indicated in Fig. 2. The postman Will then remove the letter and give-the box a push or shove back toward the post. The thrust given by the postman will cause the shaft 7 to travel longitudinally until the stop 16 comes in contact with the sleeve 10 and the weight of the box 17 -is still suflicient to overbalance the sleeve and cause the shaft 7 to revolve and to fall either to one side or the other until it strikes one end of the slot 5, whereupon the parts 4 box 17 to the position indicating that the box is empty. It is to be observed that ifthe postman carelessly drives off without shoving the box 17 toward the post, just as soon as the postman has released the box, the shaft 7 will begin to'revolve and will then drop to one end of the slot 5, and will continue to revolvev until the web'9 engages one of the shoulders 6, whereupon the bar 14 will be disposed parallel to the road-way, and the box 17 will not be left out in the road-way, despite the oversight of the postman.

At times it may happen that the box 17 is drawn out into the carriage of the postman without raising shaft 7 to the vertical position, but the weight of the box is still suflicient to overbalance the parts and cause the shaft 7 to revolve to the normal position with bar 14 parallel with the roadway.

that I claim is 1. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a rotatably mounted support, a bar slidingly carried thereby, a container movably sustained by said bar, and gravity controlled means for returning the said support tov a given position upon being released in any position, other than the said given position, the bar being disposed for increasing such tendency to return proportionately to the extent the bar is slid from the normal at rest position.

2. In a mechanism of the class described,

the combination of a rotatably mounted shaft, a support therefor, leaving the shaft free to swing laterally in vertical planes, a container sustained by said shaft and disposed at one side of the center of gravity thereof, and detent means disposed for limiting the movement of said shaft under the action of gravity for causing the container when rel-eased to always return to a position bearing the same given relation to the support.

:3. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a stepped shaft arranged to swing laterally in vertical planes in its bearing, a" bracket engaging said shaft and having a longitudinal slot through which the said shaft extends, the slot being formed I in its ends with shoulders, means on the shaftadapted to engage the said shoulders for limiting rotation of the shaft, and a container sustained by the shaft.

4.. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a supporting shaft mounted to rotate and swing freely laterally from a position in the line of gravitation to one side thereof, and a container support slidingly engaging said shaft.

5. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a supporting shaft mounted to rotate and to swing freely laterally from the line of gravitation to either side thereof, and a container support slidingly engaging said shaft.

6. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a rotatably mounted swinging shaft, a guiding sup-port therefor permitting the shaft to swing freely laterally within predetermined limitations, a bar slidingly carried'by said shaft, and a container connected with said bar.

7. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a shaft mounted to swing laterally in vertical planes, guiding supports therefor rotatably sustaining said shaft, a sleeve carried by the shaft, a bar slidingly mounted in said sleeve and extending therethrough on an inclined plane, and

a container mounted on the higher end of the, bar.

8. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a support, of a longitudinally slotted bracket carried thereby, a stepped bearing spaced beneath said bracket, a shaft extending through the slot of said bracket and stepped in said bearing, a bar slidingly carried. by said shaft, and a con-- tainer sustained by said bar.

9. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a support, of a shaft carried thereby and mounted to rotateand also to swing laterally in vertical planes, a

limiting guide for the vertical swing of said shaft, means for i1 terrupting rotation of the shaft when at either terminus of the guide, a bar slidingly sustained by said shaft, and a container carried by said bar.

10. Inamechanism of the class described, the combination with an n standing, rotatably mounted swinging s aft, means for supporting the same and limiting 'theswinging movement thereof and permitting the shaft to swing from the line of gravitation to one side thereof, and a container sustained by said shaft and positioned for. normally maintaining the shaft out of the line of gravitation.

11. In mail receiving and delivering apparatus, the combination of a mail container support and a laterallyv shit'table pivot shaft therefor adapted to cause the support to return to a normal position when released after having been moved from such position.

12. In mail receiving and deliveringapparatus, the combination of a pivotallymounted casing, a container supporting bar extending through and slidingly mounted in said casing, said bar being of angle-iron shape, and guiding means engaging the free edges of the webs of the bar for preventing twisting movement of the bar.

13. In mail receiving and delivering apparatus, the combination of a pivotally mounted casing, a container supporting bar extending through and slidingly mounted in saidcasing, saidbar being of angle-iron shape, and guiding means engaging the free edgesof the webs of the bar and also engaging the apex or meeting edges of the webs.

14. In mail receiving and delivering apparatus, the combination of a substantially vertical, laterally swinging, revoluble shaft, anda container supporting bar supported by said shaft and extending substantially transversely thereof in inclined planes and having a container supporting portion, the

container supporting portion of the bar when the shaft is swung laterally being iiigher than the remaining portions of the ar. 15. In mail receivin and delivering apparatus, the combination of a bearing, a shaft stepped therein and free to swing laterally, means for, limiting the lateral swing of the shaft, and container supporting means carried by the shaft. 1

16. In mail receiving and delivering apparatus, the combination of a rotary, swinging shaft, means for limiting the swing of said shaft, and container supporting means slidingly carried by the shaft and adapted to slide across the shaft.

17. In mail receiving and deliverin -apparatus, the combination of a vertically swinging, pivotally mounted support,- a contamer supportlng bar, and guiding means for said bar carried by said support and-po-' sition'ed for being alined on an incline when the support is in afvert-ical position.

18. In mail receiving an'd delivering apparatus, the combination of an upstanding, revoluble shaft shiftable laterally to 'a tilted position, and a container supporting bar supported by said shaft and extending substantially transversely thereof in planes inclined with respect to the shaft.

engaged by the guiding means for preventing rotary movement of the bar.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses. J. SMITH LANIER. Witnesses:

SAML. W. CooKnELL,

EDGAR M. KI'TGHIN. 

